Quick start crucial as Meath u-20's see off Westmeath

Meath's first-half showing proved to be vital as they maintained their 100% record in this year's u-20 Leinster championship

Meath 0-1-17

Westmeath 0-1-10

Tom Gannon

Meath made it two wins from two in the u-20 Leinster FC after they got the better of Westmeath in Kinnegad on Wednesday evening. Meath's superb showing in the opening 20 minutes proved to be crucial and the game transpired to be a lot tighter than what the scoreline after the first quarter suggested.

Meath raced into a 10-point lead, which was largely down to the exploits of the very talented midfielder Michael McIvor. For the majority of the opening-half, Westmeath struggled in front of the posts.

The second-half turned into a bit of a messy affair and during a sticky third quarter for the Royals, their neighbours narrowed the gap back to five.

Westmeath were reduced to 14 men in the 46th minute but despite possessing the numerical advantage, the Royals failed to impress in the last 10 minutes. A win is a win though and Meath will head into their clash with Offaly next week with their 100% record still intact.

Straight from the throw-up, Westmeath drove forward and a shot from Jack Duncan very nearly caused Meath to have a disastrous start to the contest but the Royals blushes were saved by net-minder Matthew Kealy. It was the first of several good stops from the Slane native.

Michael McIvor got Meath's tally underway with a well-struck point before the midfielder jumped highest to claim a Westmeath kick-out and score a cracker of a two-pointer. John Harkin gave Meath a four-point advantage after only five minutes. Ben Corkery then turned over the ball deep in Westmeath territory before he set up McIvor for another point.

A few minutes later, McIvor was very unlucky not to be awarded a second two-pointer as he struck a score from well outside the arc. The referee conversed with the sideline official on the opposite side of the pitch from where McIvor kicked before he awarded only a single point to the St Vincent's Ardcath man for his fantastic effort.

John Harkin was proven to be a bit of a handful for the Westmeath defence and he set up Liam Jennings who put Meath up by seven after only 12 minutes.

A nice move that involved Cian Commons and Rian Stafford was polished off by Corkery before the Clann Na nGael speed merchant followed that score up with another point with the assistance of McIvor.

Kilbride's Finn White got in on the action in the 18th minute which handed Meath a 0-10 to 0-0 lead. Eventually, after 20 minutes of play, Westmeath registered their first score through a Finn Duffy free.

Once Westmeath had gotten rid of their duck egg, they started to play with a bit more fluency and points from Duffy and Shane Ormsby narrowed the gap between the sides back to seven.

Meath notched off another two points in quick succession courtesy of Harkin and Commons before Duncan pulled one back for Westmeath on the stroke of the half-time whistle. Meath went in at the interval with a 0-12 to 0-4 advantage.

After last week's superb display, Jamie Murphy was kept relatively quiet in the contest but he did get his tally up and running after the break before his score was cancelled out by Shane Corcoran.

Rian Stafford then contributed two points within a minute of each other before a well-struck two-pointer from substitute Taylor Slevin handed 'The Lake County' a boost. The men in maroon followed that score up with two further points from Corcoran and Ormsby.

Just when it looked like Westmeath had momentum, they were reduced to 14 men. Tom Bourke received a second yellow for what appeared to be a strike to Sam Jordan. Moments earlier, Bourke had got his first warning for a foot tackle on White.

Meath initially capitalised on the numerical advantage and rattled off three points through McIvor, Jennings and Commons. However, Westmeath finished out the game strongest and outscored the Royals by 0-3 to 0-1 in the last 10 minutes. A Murphy free completed Meath's tally on a night that left the Meath u-20 management team with plenty to think about ahead of their final group stage game against Offaly next Wednesday.

Meath - Matthew Kealy; Sam Jordan, Rian Early, Ciaran O'Hare; Tadgh Martyn, John Gormley, Finn White (0-1); Eamonn Armstrong, Michael McIvor (0-6 one two-point); Rian Stafford (0-2, one free), John Harkin (0-2), Cian Commons (0-2); Ben Corkery (0-2), Jamie Murphy (0-2 frees), Liam Jennings (0-2). Subs - James Reeves for Gormley 38m, Zach Thornton for Harkin 52m, Seimi Byrne for White 53m, Pat Crawley for Corkery 55m, Fiach Hartigan for Jordan 55m.

Westmeath - Luke Nicholson; Sean Dillon, Seanai Bracken, Aodhan Curran; Kaelan Connell, Billy Moffatt, Adam Keane; Shane Ormsby (0-2), Tadhg Baker, Ran Kelly, Finn Duffy (0-2 frees), Peter Murphy, Shane Corcoran (0-3), Ronan Murray (0-1 one free), Jack Duncan (0-1). Subs - Taylor Slevin (0-2 one two-point) for Moffatt 15m, Tom Bourke for Duffy half-time, Tiernan O'Donovan for Kelly, Oisin Shortall for Curran both 41m, Conor Callaghan for Murray 52m.

Referee - David Hickey (Carlow)